Saying Goodbye to Europe...for now :-)

On Tuesday I went shopping again with Marielle’s mom and we went to Breda again trying to look for some local market type booths. But I guess we got there too late and the markets were already packing their things up. So we decided to just wander around and we had tea and coffee in a coffee shop. Marielle’s mom also got some Finwick hot tea glasses for Marielle because she had a coupon for them.

We wandered around the little town and were also supposed to see this old church but it was also closed due to reconstruction. We went instead to an old nunnery home and looked around their little abbey. It was cute and there was also reconstruction being done to their brick roads so that was kind of interesting to see them redoing old brick roads haha.

I got some post cards from a little tourist shop and we decided to go to this other mall and we had lunch in a side shop. I had the crouquet’s again, and it was very good :D We looked in some other stores, but I really didn’t need anything else really, and could hardly fit anything back into my suitcase…so I just bought a Duffy cd for Sam as a present. Duffy is an up and coming pop artist from England and I love her music!!

After we were done at the mall, we stopped in this other little town and had ice cream. We were sitting by some really cool trees that were called Babies Fingers and they looked like something out of A Nightmare Before Christmas they were very bizarre!

Later that evening, I had invited Marielle’s mom, her boyfriend, Erwin’s parents and Annette and her boyfriend all out to eat dinner at the place that I won the gift certificates to. It was a lot of fun! Our table was given two hot hot hot stones to cook a variety of meats and vegetables. There were these sauces you could put on your meats too and I liked those a lot. We had salad and ate a fun and good meal! For desert, I got to try the very Dutch cream puff that had this layer of hard chocolate on top. Erwin bet Annett’s boyfriend that I couldn’t eat it all…which I sadly couldn’t haha! I had had too much to eat, but it was good though haha. Marielle and I had fun taking goofy pictures and it was a great way to end my visit with my host Dutch sister! :D

That night I had to sadly re-pack all of my stuff, souvenirs, laptop all into my book bag and suitcase. It was a tight squeeze but I managed it. I said goodnight to Erwin and Marielle and didn’t really think about the next day because I didn’t want to leave!!
Sadly, my last day of being in Europe came to an end. On Wednesday April 9th, I got all of my stuff into Marielle’s car and we headed out to the airport. It was a sad goodbye, with tears and lots of hugs.

I had time to kill before getting onto the plane and wrote in my journal and listened to music. When I boarded the plane I sat next to this woman, but then she ended up moving up a seat because we had a lot of available chairs. So I decided to watch a movie. Which was about the worst thing really because it ended up being The Holiday with Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet. And it was about England….so I sadly cried throughout the movie and missed my friends and my life in England soooo much!!!!

Once I was in Newark for my flight change, I bought some magazines and it felt so weird to be back in the States. I didn’t have all of those different accents around me, the people working at the news stand and the coffee shop spoke English without the British accent. It took a while to figure out if my flight was on time still since it didn’t say anything about it being delayed or not. I just went to the gate, sat next to a group of people at the gate I was supposed to be in and then finally found out that I was at the right one and that my flight was on time.

I just read my magazine and then we boarded the plane. I ended up sleeping the whole way from Newark to Chicago and by the time I woke up, my plane was landing. I was excited to see my parents though. I came down the escalator after going to the baggage claim area and they were there at the bottom of the stairs! I gave them hugs and kisses and they laughed and asked where my British accent was. Haha I told them I wasn’t there long enough and wished that I had had a year instead. But I was happy to see them and once we got my luggage, we headed to the car and I kept mom awake driving back home with all of my stories that I had to tell.

When we finally got home at about one in the morning, I opened the door and saw my sisters, brother, cats and dogs all waiting up for me!! I gave everyone hugs and got my suitcases inside the house. I brought the suitcase with all of the souvenirs and presents in it with me, and sent another one ahead before I left England. It ended up in the Chicago airport suitcase holding center or some place like that haha.

I gave everyone their gifts and then we all went to bed. I still couldn’t believe that I was back home and in my old room…it felt so strange to be back. Like I was back home, a suitcase still in my room, and then I would be off and starting the whole adventure over again!

I’m so glad to have had the opportunity to study abroad. I've accomplished one of my life goals! I made a lot of friends, had a great host family, got to travel and live in England!! I’ve now been bitten by the travel bug and miss England so much my family is already sick of me talking about it all the time! But this experience has changed my life and made me realize how much I enjoyed living in England.

I hope you all have enjoyed reading about my travels. I am sorry it took so long to finish this blog! I’m glad that I did start it because now I can look back on this and remember all of the fun I had, the people I met, and the amazing places I saw! Thanks for sharing your comments! Much love!

XX,
Shannon
P.S. Pictures will soon follow this too :D